The culture mash

My mother was telling me that the last time she was in England, her cousins took her to a supermall that had been built near them. It's so huge, there's an actual ski slope inside. They were especially excited to show her the "American section" of the mall which boasts a replica of New Orleans' Jackson Square, a real Texas BBQ and cowboy shops, a fifties diner and the pièce de résistance, a bowling alley! When my mom did not express the unique kind of joy they were expecting, her cousin said "but I thought all Americans were bowling mad!" Apparently not.

"Ridiculous," my mom continued, "why do they think I would be excited about that? If they came to the states, I wouldn't take them to have English tea." I thought about it for a moment. "Well, we took Chiemi to Benihana," I said, reminding her of the ensemble of exchange students we hosted in my high school years. Chiemi was from Japan. "Oh yeah, we did!" she giggled.

"And I'm pretty sure we took Jenny (from Sweden) to Solvang (the replica of a Danish town)." My mom is suddenly mock-embarrassed. "Oh yeah, we took her to the smorgasbord restaurant for Swedish meatballs!" She howled with laughter. We too, succumbed to the urge to show someone's culture to them in a foreign land. I think this impulse is one of peace-making. It's a way to say "our country values your culture." The risk, of course, is that it's more likely that our country has perverted, diminished and commercialized their culture, but it's the gesture that counts.

What I think is a more powerful expression of appreciation is a merging of the two cultures. One of the biggest attractions in Los Angeles is a restaurant that on weekend nights hosts an Elvis impersonator. It's not the entertainment of someone karaoking to Elvis that's made "Thai Elvis" a cult-figure (you need only Google "Thai Elvis" to find the restaurant), it's the tangible culture mash that's so appealing.

On my walk today, someone was practicing the bagpipes looking over the ocean as the sun set. It sounded very good and he was getting quite a bit of attention. As I got closer, I could see that the bagpiper was African-American. How fantastic! This is the merging of culture that makes Los Angeles the special place that it is.